Trust Bent, But Not Broken
by A'isha Ishtar
Summary: "Whoa, whoa! Calm down, okay? I'm not going to hurt you." When he stopped moving, she reached down and carefully ran her hand across his smooth skin, and smiled. "That's right. You're not so bad, are you? Just scared. Don't worry, so am I." Blowhole/OC!
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Penguins of Madagascar... sadly... but I DO own Taryn. And anyone you've never heard of.**

**But for anyone who doesn't know (not that you wouldn't know if you were here), "Flippy" was Blowhole's stage name before... you know, he became DR. Blowhole. *thunder crashes* SO MUCH BETTER.**

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><p>Taryn lingered by the gates for a moment, observing the tank that was enclosed by them. It held a single dolphin, one who absolutely refused to cooperate with the other dolphins, was hostile to them, and attacked his trainers every chance he could get. Apparently she was the last shot to tame him before the park shipped him off to a zoo on the other side of the world.<p>

The tag on the gates read _Flippy_, which was obviously the name the trainers had given him. She thought it was hideously demeaning to give them names like that, eye-catchingly ridiculous stage names. No real names, what their pod might have called them. Then again, translating dolphin into human was probably near impossible... but still, they deserved to be treated with some dignity, not as some _prop_ whose only purpose was to serve in a side show.

She got into this work because she thought she might be able to change people's attitudes toward and treatment of these animals, but the things she saw trying to accomplish that broke her heart.

She took a breath and began inside. He was just in there, swimming around listlessly, not paying attention, and she thought she might be able to climb onto the ladder and sneak up on him, for lack of a better term, and see if she couldn't comfort him and get him to stop being so violent toward everyone. She had her goggles and snorkel up on top of her head, and dressed in her wetsuit and flippers, she was ready for business.

Taryn took a few slow steps up the ladder, and sat down, swinging her legs over the side so her feet were dangling in the water. "Hey. How you doing, little baby?"

Just by the sound of her voice and the sudden movement in the water, he knew she was there. He started thrashing and squeaking wildly, leaping toward her and splashing her as much as possible, maybe even trying to push her off the ladder.

"Whoa, whoa!" Taryn leaned forward, her hand aiming for him so she could try and get him to relax. It wasn't easy to do with all the water being sprayed in her face. "Calm down, okay? I'm not going to hurt you. You're alright, it's alright." She made sure not to yell, thinking that maybe the trainers shouting at him might be part of the problem. Of course he wasn't going to be anything but hostile if everyone was that way with him. "It's okay."

He flipped his tail one more time, offering a final spurt of water, and sunk down into the tank. He'd stopped moving and trying to drive her off. After a moment, he cautiously rose back up to the surface, giving a curious chirp obviously directed at her.

When he swam close enough, she reached down and carefully slid her hand across his smooth skin, and smiled. "That's right. I'm not going to hurt you on purpose, no." She slipped into the water, keeping her head above so she didn't have to put the snorkel on yet. "Everybody else says you're unbearable, but you seem to be doing fine right now."

He shook his head, nuzzling closer to the cup of her hand, and she giggled, rubbing her fingers on his skin. "Yeah, you're not so bad, are you, boy?" She let go and swam closer, pressing her forehead against his nose. "No, you're just scared. You don't like it here." She stroked the side of his head, closing her eyes and pouting. "But don't worry. You're not alone. I'm scared too, and I don't like this either."

They stayed that way for a minute, then Taryn opened her eyes. "There we go. You don't need trained - you just need some love."

She kicked her feet and swam around to one side, looking him over. She gasped when she noticed a long gash near his eye. She hadn't seen it before because she hadn't gotten a close enough look, but she could see it now. She propelled herself closer and touched it with one finger, tracing down the side of it. "Oh, Flippy... how did _this_ happen?"

He clicked and squeaked wildly when she touched it, and flopped backward away from her. It probably seemed to him like she'd broken her promise not to hurt him.

"Hey, whoa!" She kicked her legs forward and got closer. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. I just want to see."

He glanced up at her, clicked, and got a little closer, nudging his head up against her hand.

She didn't touch the scratch this time, but she put her fingers just next to it, examining the mark. It looked recent, but the blood had dried. Maybe from yesterday, or the day before. "Aw, look at you. It's from one of the other trainers, is't it? You didn't want to cooperate so... so _they_ were the ones who were being violent. And you were just fighting back, defending yourself." She stroked her fingers over his back carefully, furrowing her eyebrows together. "Oh, poor thing. I don't believe people, that they can do something like that. What's wrong with the world?"

He squeaked several times in succession, his eyes closing as if he understood and agreed with her.

Taryn leaned forward and lightly pressed her lips against the gash. "There we go." She let go of him and drifted backward, moving her legs until she bumped the edge of the pool. "Alright. Now, why don't we practice some tricks? The manager said he wants you to learn something new, and I've come up with a few routines we can do together. So you won't be alone! What do you think? Practice?"

Flippy made a popping noise that sounded more like a scoff to her, and dove down under the water. A few seconds later, he torpedoed back up and broke the surface at what looked like full speed. Then he squirted some water out of his mouth at her, and it hit the intended target.

"Hey!" Taryn blocked another stream, shaking her head. She laughed, and ducked her head down to get a mouthful of water, then quickly slipped her snorkel down and blew the water out of it at him. "Take that!" she giggled, then took a deep breath and plunged herself down into the water.

The chase began, with Taryn pedaling her legs against the water as hard as she could and Flippy streamlining after her. They did this around the tank two times, before she broke the cycle and went up for air. She shook herself out, spitting out the water that had gotten into her mouth and shocking herself with the sudden heat from the sun.

Flippy came up too, taking a blowhole full of air. After that, he was rather content to playfully shove up against Taryn, then back up and do it again.

"Oh, so _now_ you want to practice." She rolled her eyes and swam to the edge of the pool, climbing up onto the ladder. "Silly little thing. I'll go get the hoop."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him dive back into the water, as if to avoid the ring trick.

She giggled as she lugged the ring over to his tank. "You must not like this trick, huh, Flippy?" She dragged it up onto the ladder and tossed it in, making sure it landed on the base and making sure Flippy was out of the way. "Alright! Don't worry, for practice I'm not going to light it on fire. I wouldn't risk you getting hurt." She lowered herself into the water. "I wish they wouldn't set it on fire for the show. It's like they're _trying_ to burn you. Not even fair. But I'll be with you the whole time, okay?" She smiled, swimming over to him and putting a hand on his head. "Good. Now, all you have to do is jump up, and through the hoop."

Flippy shied away from her, drawing back down into the water and squeaking.

"Ohh, what's the matter?" With her snorkel still on, Taryn took as deep a breath as she could and went down after him, gliding her legs up and down and using the side of the tank to keep herself steady. She motioned to him and propelled herself closer.

He looked right into her eyes for a few seconds, then swooped around and rolled to his back so she could see the underside of his tail. There was a healing burn mark, but it was over a large area. Just like the scratch on his eye, she hadn't seen it before.

Her eyes widened behind her mask, and she gasped out loud, almost taking in a lungful of water. She quickly swam back up to the surface, and Flippy followed her. She coughed a few times, yanking her snorkel off her mouth and trying to get a breath.

Once she'd gotten back to herself, she turned toward Flippy and treaded water, lightly kicking her legs. "Was that... Was that from the last time you did the Ring of Fire?"

He clicked sadly a few times, gliding over to her and nuzzling against her waist.

Taryn put her around around that sensitive area between his head and back, and leaned down to rest her cheek against the top of his smooth head. "You couldn't... make it all the way through... must have fallen... right? And you got hurt..."

He clicked again, and immediately tears plopped down onto his skin.

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><p><strong>Reviews are love! Send me one and I shall get another chapter up POSTHASTE. :D<strong>

**Thanks for reading! ^^**


	2. Chapter 2

"Aww, Flippy! Nice try, good effort!" Taryn floated over to her new friend, running her hand over his back. He'd just attempted a jump through the hoop, but had fallen short and basically tumbled over himself. "You okay?" She dove under the water and rubbed the underside of his stomach where he'd hit the ring. She came back up and shook her hair. "Why don't we give it another shot?"

Flippy blew air out at her, shaking his head. He slapped his tail against the water, and flicked a spout of water over at her.

"Hey! Don't be mean." She splashed him right back. "Come on, Flippy. I _know_ you can do this. I have faith in you." She scrubbed the heel of her palm against the side of his face. "You're okay, I'm right here. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

He looked up at her as if he didn't believe her, then clicked and whistled a few times. He darted out from under her touch, and in less than five seconds he was back on the other side of the hoop. He was waving his tail under the water hesitantly, like he was scared to try again, but that he would at least try if she believed in him.

Taryn grinned and held up both hands. "Ready..." She kicked her legs. "Set..." She waved her hands back toward herself. "Come on, Flippy! Come over to me!"

He backed up a little, then sped forward and leapt out of the water. This time he made it through the hoop with only the end of his tail hitting it. He landed back in the water, spraying her for the millionth time - not that she minded it.

"Good boy!" Seeing that he was a little dizzy (who _wouldn't_ be after something like that?), she swam toward him and wrapped her arm around him. "Oh, you did it! That was great! See what you can do if you just believe in yourself?" She bent down and nuzzled her nose against his cheek. "You did a good job." She pushed off and paddled over to the edge of the tank. "Come here, I'll get you a treat."

Flippy perked up at "treat", and followed her eagerly, bumping into her a few times. He probably thought it was funny, and he hadn't gotten reprimanded for it yet, so of course he'd keep at it.

Taryn let out a snort of laughter, and leaned over the tank to grab a fish from the bucket she'd brought. She turned back around and gently nudged Flippy's stomach with her foot and wiggling her toes, chuckling. "Come on, you! You're only going to get it if you're nice to me."

Seeming to understand, Flippy plunged down into the water and then came back up right beside her. He snuggled his head against her waist, whistling and clicking and squeaking happily. He even closed his eyes, as if to let her know he was being nice to her and that he was comfortable with her.

Taryn giggled, and petted his head. "Oh, that's right, you're a good boy, aren't you?" She touched his nose with the fish, then held it up in front of his mouth so he could eat it. "There you go, there's your treat."

He snapped it out of her hands, though he was careful not to bite her, and started eating.

"Enjoy that, Flippy, you earned it."

"Hey, looks like he's doing better, huh?"

Taryn turned to see her manager standing there, smoking a cigarette. He took it out of his mouth and gestured to the dolphin. "You really are somethin', Tare. Got him under control inside of an hour."

She reached down and rubbed Flippy's head, and he clicked at her. "Yeah, well, if you guys would treat the animals with some respect and not abuse them, maybe they would be more willing to cooperate with you. I'm not asking much, you don't have to treat them like humans, but not cracking that whip - is that _really_ too much to ask?"

Her manager rolled his eyes, and shook his head, slipping the cigarette back through his lips. "You're some kinda crazy hippie, Tare, ain't ya? Did you get him to actually jump through the stupid ring?"

"He's getting better at it."

He nodded. "Alright then. Well, first show's next week. You gonna get a new routine done by then?"

"Yeah! I was thinking up some routines where we swim together."

Her manager raised an eyebrow, pointing at Flippy. "You mean you're actually gonna perform with that thing?" He scoffed, then shrugged and turned to walk off, probably to his office. "Your funeral, Tare. Keep workin', alright? See you later."

Taryn kicked at the water angrily. "He's not a _thing_!" she yelled. "He's a _dolphin_! You probably think that's spelled with an 'f', huh? 'Cause you didn't even make it outta high school, so don't talk to me about my animals!" She crossed her arms in one sharp motion and pouted, sinking down into the water.

Flippy whined loudly and swam underneath her, nudging at her back and trying to push her up. He then came out of the water and bumped her elbow with his rostrum, rubbing against her arm.

"I'm fine, Flippy." She absentmindedly curled her arm around him, lightly scratching at his belly. "I just wish they'd treat you guys better. It's not fair." She glanced down. "You _heard_ all those mean things he said about you, right? It wasn't just me who heard it?"

He clicked aggressively, bumping harshly against her and shaking his head.

"Whoa! Careful now." She kicked back over to him and sighed. "I know you're upset. I am too. But baby steps, okay? There's no use getting mad over something we can't control... not yet, anyway." She stroked over his back again, and smiled, trying to get back into the upbeat tone they'd had before her manager intruded on their practice. "Why don't we get back to the tricks? I have an idea for something we can do together. Come on!"

Flippy blew out a puff of air, but followed her anyway. After all, at least she didn't carry a whip and knife around.

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><p>Taryn adjusted her goggles to make sure they fit right, but this time she wasn't using a snorkel. Since she'd been practicing, she found it was more of a hindrance, since it went around her mouth while her mouth was open and while she was underwater she sometimes got confused - especially after turns - and took a breath, forgetting she shouldn't do exactly that while submerged in water. So she'd just decided to hold her breath while performing - her record was a minute and a half, and she didn't stay under with Flippy for more than about thirty seconds.<p>

Speaking of her dolphin partner who was quickly wriggling his way into her heart. He was already in the bigger tank - with a new mark on his side, she noticed, probably from one of the other trainers' boots when they moved him. He didn't look like he was in too much pain though; he seemed excited. It was their first performance together, and she was excited, and he was attached to her, so why shouldn't he be excited? He deserved to at least _enjoy_ performing, if he was forced to do it.

Taryn climbed up on the ladder and squatted down, motioning for Flippy to come over to her. "Come here, boy!" When he swam over, she caught his head in both hands and started rubbing. "Who's my good little baby? Huh? Who's my dolphin?"

He let out an excited burst of popping noise, and smacked his fins against the water, splashing her.

She laughed and nuzzled her forehead against his. "That's right! Flippy's my dolphin! Flippy's my good baby!" She pulled away, but kept her hands on him. "It looks like you're ready, so I guess I don't have to ask!" She leaned down and kiss the tip of his nose. "I know we'll do great."

_We_. Flippy chirped happily, doing a somersault in the water.

"Hey, Tare."

Taryn turned around to see her manager, yet again smoking. "Yeah?"

"You figured out the song for your routine, right? What are you doing?"

"Yeah, it's gonna be 'Firework'."

"Katy Perry? Interesting choice." He blew out some smoke. "I still say you're insane for swimming with that thing. What if he, like, goes at you like he has with every other trainer? It could _kill_ you."

"_He_ will be fine, and I told you he's _not_ a thing. He's a _dolphin_." She put her hands on her hips. "Figure out how to spell that yet?"

He scowled at her. "Yeah, okay, you think you're smart. Just don't screw this up, or you'll be out of a job. And FYI, if you get fired, good luck finding anyone else who'll hire a stupid, radical upstart like you. Later."

Taryn rolled her eyes as walked off. "Whatever." She turned back to Flippy and stroked around his blowhole. "Don't listen to him, okay? We'll do fine, and I trust you not to hurt me. I know you wouldn't ever."

Flippy made a popping sound and swished his tail in the water, indicating that he was ready and eager to perform.

Taryn grinned, scrubbing her hands against each side of his head. Then she leaned down and rubbed her nose against his. "There's my good boy. We'll be starting soon, Flippy, just sit tight."

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><p>"Is everybody ready to have a good time?" Taryn called through the microphone, Flippy beneath her platform waiting for his cue.<p>

The crowd cheered, whoops and whistles coming from every direction.

"I said, _is everybody ready to have a good time_!"

There was another roar of excitement, louder this time.

Taryn clapped against the microphone. "That's what I wanted to _hear_!" She gestured down into the pool. "This is Flippy!" She waved her hand up, from down by her knee up into the air. "Say hi to everybody, Flippy!"

Flipp did a few underwater somersaults, then leapt up and did two more in the air, spouting a stream of water from his mouth as he spun around.

Taryn giggled, petting Flippy when he jumped over to her, listening as the crowd cheered again. "Good boy, good boy. Ready?" She straightened back up. "Okay! Flippy and I are going to do a routine together!" She pointed to Carlos, the MC. "Hit the beat!"

"You got it, babe!" Carlos pressed a button, and "Firework" began.

"_Do you ever feel like a plastic bag..."_

She jumped up off the board, and jumped again, making sure she was ready.

"_Drifting through the wind..."_

She did some up-in-the-air turns, aiming for the surface.

"_Wanting to start again?"_

She hit the water, and shot straight to the bottom, holding her hands there in a sort of underwater handstand for a few seconds as Flippy whirled around her.

"_Do you ever feel, feel so paper-thin?_

_Like a house of cards, one blow from cavin' in..."_

Taryn flipped over onto her feet, shooting up toward the surface and breaking the water, throwing her arms back and floating. Flippy copied the pose, though his tail was up in the air.

"_Do you ever feel already buried deep?_

_Six feet under, scream, but no one seems to hear a thing..."_

She dove back under, flailing her arms and legs wildly. Flippy jumped up in the air and spun around.

"_Do you know that there's still a chance for you?_

'_Cause there's a spark in you..."_

Taryn looked up toward the surface, and reached for the dolphin's flipper that he extended down toward her.

"_You just gotta ignite the light_

_And let it shine..."_

She let herself fall into a dead man's float, aiming her face at the bottom of the tank and allowing her legs to go up above her, her arms flowing freely. As she did this, Flippy came up under her, waited a second, and then started nudging her upward.

"_Just own the night like the Fourth of July..."_

They both started at the bottom of the tank, and spiraled upward around each other toward the air.

"'_Cause baby, you're a firework!_

_Come on, show 'em what you're worth!"_

They broke the surface. Taryn threw her head back, put herself in a float, then did a somersault. Meanwhile, Flippy had leapt into the air and did a somersault too, landing in breach on his side and waiting for Taryn to come back up so they could continue.

"_Make 'em go ah, ah, ah!_

_As you shoot across the sky-y-y!"_

Taryn grabbed onto Flippy's dorsal fin with one hand, and on the side of his stomach with the other, holding on as tightly as she could without hurting him. She nodded, and he took her around the tank twice.

"_Baby, you're a firework!_

_Come on, let your colors burst!"_

They went up to the surface again. Taryn took a breath and let herself fall downward, kicking her legs up in the air and spreading them out, while Flippy did another few somersaults in the air.

"_Make 'em go ah, ah, ah_

_You're gonna leave 'em all in awe, awe, awe!"_

They ended by coming up together again. Flippy stood up on his tail, holding as long as he could, and Taryn did a float next to him.

The song cut, cuing to the audience that the routine was over. There was a deafening roar of applause and whooping. People were shouting and whistling, and some even stood up.

Taryn got up from her float, shaking her hair out and swimming over to Flippy, who'd splashed into the water and was horizontal again. He looked tired, but happy too. He was clicking at her, pulses of sound coming in between, and nuzzled her neck.

She grinned and rubbed at his neck too. "Good boy, Flippy. You did great. Let's get ready for the next one, huh?"


End file.
